Magnetic Transitions in Iron Porphyrin Halides by Inelastic Neutron Scattering and Ab Initio Studies of Zero-Field Splittings

Zero-field splitting (ZFS) parameters of nondeuterated metalloporphyrins [Fe(TPP)X] (X = F, Br, I; H2TPP = tetraphenylporphyrin) have been directly determined by inelastic neutron scattering (INS). The ZFS values are D = 4.49(9) cm–1 for tetragonal polycrystalline [Fe(TPP)F], and D = 8.8(2) cm–1, E = 0.1(2) cm–1 and D = 13.4(6) cm–1, E = 0.3(6) cm–1 for monoclinic polycrystalline [Fe(TPP)Br] and [Fe(TPP)I], respectively. Along with our recent report of the ZFS value of D = 6.33(8) cm–1 for tetragonal polycrystalline [Fe(TPP)Cl], these data provide a rare, complete determination of ZFS parameters in a metalloporphyrin halide series. The electronic structure of [Fe(TPP)X] (X = F, Cl, Br, I) has been studied by multireference ab initio methods: the complete active space self-consistent field (CASSCF) and the N-electron valence perturbation theory (NEVPT2) with the aim of exploring the origin of the large and positive zero-field splitting D of the 6A1 ground state. D was calculated from wave functions of the electronic multiplets spanned by the d5 configuration of Fe(III) along with spin–orbit coupling accounted for by quasi degenerate perturbation theory. Results reproduce trends of D from inelastic neutron scattering data increasing in the order from F, Cl, Br, to I. A mapping of energy eigenvalues and eigenfunctions of the S = 3/2 excited states on ligand field theory was used to characterize the σ- and π-antibonding effects decreasing from F to I. This is in agreement with similar results deduced from ab initio calculations on CrX63– complexes and also with the spectrochemical series showing a decrease of the ligand field in the same directions. A correlation is found between the increase of D and decrease of the π- and σ-antibonding energies eλX (λ = σ, π) in the series from X = F to I. Analysis of this correlation using second-order perturbation theory expressions in terms of angular overlap parameters rationalizes the experimentally deduced trend. D parameters from CASSCF and NEVPT2 results have been calibrated against those from the INS data, yielding a predictive power of these approaches. Methods to improve the quantitative agreement between ab initio calculated and experimental D and spectroscopic transitions for high-spin Fe(III) complexes are proposed.